Broken Wings
by kirin-saga
Summary: There is more to life than Shadows. Sometimes, though, Shadows are all we can see. Shounen-ai. ?Bakura.
1. Prologue

Title: Broken Wings  
Author: Cheysuli  
Rating: R (to be safe)  
Pairing/Bakura  
Summary: There is more to life than Shadows. Sometimes, though, Shadows are all we can see. Shounen-ai. /Bakura.  
Warning: Shounen-ai (male/male)  
Disclaimer: The characters of Yu-Gi-Oh belong to their creator (not me); any mythology mentioned belongs to Egypt which belongs to the Egyptian Gods.  
Chapter: Prologue/teaser  
A/N: Unbetaed and first real Yu-Gi-Oh fic (not counting 'Real' since that was too short). WIP.

:telepathy:  
.:yami to hikari/hikari to yami:.  
"speech"  
'thoughts'

* * *

A faint, soothing sound echoed quietly in the dark house; a lullaby, whispered in an obscure Egyptian dialect, meant to calm frightened children when the nightmares became too real and dawn was a lifetime away. It seemed to float through the air, enticing sleeping souls to wake and follow it to it's source, although only the purest souls could ever find it.

And a pure soul did find it this night, within that dark house. Ryou stood silently in the doorway to his yami's room, staring in awe at the sight before him.

A strange man with tan skin and dark hair, wearing a pale and nearly transparent robe, sat curled on the bed, holding a sleeping Bakura. He gave no sign that he had seen anyone enter the room, but Ryou knew somehow that he was aware of his presence. The man just sat there, gently soothing Bakura with his song as he calmly ran a hand through the spirit's white hair.

They stayed that way for hours, the man singing quietly and Ryou silently watching, until a faint glow from the window signaled the coming dawn. The man frowned slightly, glancing towards the window as he held Bakura protectively, as if afraid to let go. Bakura moaned quietly, wincing as he came closer to waking, and the man quickly returned his attention to the sleeping boy.

Ryou continued to stare at them, oblivious to the pain in his legs from standing in one position for so long. He smiled at the care the stranger showed Bakura and watched as the man gently lowered Bakura to the pillow, obviously getting ready to leave. "Can you help him?" Ryou blinked, shocked that he had disturbed the peace that had settled in the room. He glanced quickly towards the man and was relieved to see no anger for his words.

:No.:

Ryou blinked again at the words that whispered in his mind, his eyes never leaving the stranger as the man continued to sing softly, stroking Bakura's hair.

"Why?" Ryou whispered, stepping closer to the bed as the man seemed to slowly fade away.

:I can't.:

Ryou was now at the foot of the bed, sliding his hand along the sheet as he neared the two. "Please."

:I'm sorry.:

And the man was gone.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 1

Title: Broken Wings  
Author: Cheysuli  
Rating: R (to be safe)  
Pairing/Bakura  
Summary: There is more to life than Shadows. Sometimes, though, Shadows are all we can see. Shounen-ai. /Bakura.  
Warning: Shounen-ai (male/male)  
Disclaimer: The characters of Yu-Gi-Oh belong to their creator (not me); any mythology mentioned belongs to Egypt which belongs to the Egyptian Gods. I do not own the various books mentioned in this chapter; they belong to whoever wrote them.  
Chapter: Chapter 1  
:telepathy:  
.:yami to hikari/hikari to yami:.  
"speech"  
'thoughts'

A/N: This chapter takes place three weeks **before** previous chapter.  
A/N2: Thanks to Quick Edit, I've had to re-upload this chapter several times. I wish they would get rid of Quick Edit,it actually makes it take longer to upload anything. This fic is also at my homepage and on AdultFanFiction.

* * *

"Where is it?" Ryou wondered frantically as he rifled through some papers that were piled on the living room coffee table. "Where is it! Argh!" he growled, slamming down the handful of papers he had been holding. "Bakura!"

Receiving no answer, Ryou sighed, running a hand through his hair in agitation. "Bakura!" he screamed loudly, as he turned to stomp up the stairs. "Bakura, have you seen my report?" he asked as he entered his yami's room, being careful to not trip over a pile of books that were near the door.

"Hmmm?" Bakura asked, not looking up from the book he was reading. "Your what?"

Ryou frowned, slowly picking his way across the cluttered room, stumbling slightly before he finally plopped down beside Bakura on a large pile of pillows in the corner. "My report on the Feudal Era? You know, the one I've been working on all week? The one that's due tomorrow? Ring any bells!" he asked, lightly smacking Bakura over the head as he was once again ignored. "What are you reading?"

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," Bakura answered, finally tearing his eyes away from the thick novel. "Why? And your report is probably in your textbook."

Ryou pouted, crossing his arms. "I looked there already," he grumbled before turning to his yami with a pleading look. "Help me look?" he asked sweetly, eyes wide and innocent.

"Hmmm?" Unfortunately, cute puppy eyes didn't work if your victim wasn't looking at you. Bakura had, as Ryou should have predicted, already returned to his book and was once again lost in the underwater world of Captain Nemo. Ryou glared briefly at the book before sighing and turning away, studying Bakura's room in the faint amazement he always felt when he saw it.

Who would have thought that an Ancient Egyptian Thief would turn out to be such an avid reader? Piles upon piles of books were arranged haphazardly across the room; on selves, on the desk, across the floor, and even on the twin-sized bed. The only areas devoid of books was a narrow path (that seemed to get narrower every time Ryou came in here) from the door and a small section of the corner where they were currently sitting, where instead of books, dozens of cushions and pillows were piled. Bakura's 'bed.'

_'If he gets any more books, we'll have to move so he has a place to put them all,'_ he thought in amusement_. 'I wonder what the pharaoh would think if he knew of 'Kura's little obsession.'_ He laughed quietly as his gaze landed on the title of a nearby book. Taiko.

Suddenly reminded of his reason for being in his yami's room, he turned back to Bakura. "Why are you reading that again when you could be helping me find my homework?" he asked, yanking the book from his yami's grasp.

"Hey!" Bakura glared at him. "I like it. Now give it back!" he growled, reaching for his book.

Ryou smirked, standing and moving out of Bakura's reach. "Not until we find my report," he said, turning and running - well, walking as fast as he could without tripping - out of the room. "So hurry up, my little tomb robbing bookworm."

Bakura scowled and stood up to follow him. "Just because he can't keep track of his things is no reason for him to steal my book," he muttered as he made his way out of his room, faster than Ryou had been able to since he was used to the mess. "I'm supposed to be the thief in this house. He's not supposed to..." he trailed off and blinked as he realized something. "Book... worm?"

* * *

After Ryou explained what a bookworm was - and no matter how much Bakura hated being referred to as a worm, he couldn't really disagree - he and Bakura went through the entire house, room by room, looking for Ryou's report. Bakura would send occasional longing glances towards the book that Ryou still held tightly in his grasp. Ryou knew that if he even just slightly loosened his grip, Bakura would grab it and abandon the search.

"Found it! Now give me my book back!" Bakura said, practically bouncing over to where Ryou had been looking through some magazines by the phone.

Mildly amused at Bakura's eagerness, Ryou smiled and handed over the prized book before taking the ten pieces of paper his yami held out to him. "Where did you find it?"

"Hmmm?" Bakura asked, looking through the book as he tried to find his place. "Oh, in the encyclopedia on the kitchen counter. I thought the report was on the Feudal Era."

Ryou blinked, looking at the title on the report. Feudal Era. "It is. Why would you think differently?"

Bakura smiled, having found where he had left off. "Oh, it was marking the page on Egypt. You must have used it as a bookmark. That wasn't a smart thing to do you know," he said, moving to the living room couch and curling up with his book.

Ryou frowned. _'I wasn't reading anything on Egypt,'_ he thought before shaking his head, dismissing the thought, as he turned and headed up to his room. He had to put his report away before he lost it again.

* * *

Bakura sighed and sadly lowered his book; for some reason he was unable to concentrate even though he had reached his favorite part. He just kept thinking back to that encyclopedia article he saw when he had found Ryou's paper. There was just something about it...

Bakura shook his head, forcing himself to forget about it and return to his book, glancing quickly towards the kitchen where the encyclopedia still sat. What was so interesting about Djeheuty anyways?

TBC...

* * *

A/N3: I hope you like this chapter. It seems to be a little slow and nothing really happens but I'm trying to build up to bigger things.

20000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. The complete novel can be found online here: http : www . online - literature . com / verne / leaguesunder / (remove spaces).

Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan by Eiji Yoshikawa

No, I'm not going to explain Djeheuty just yet. You'll have to wait and see.


	3. Chapter 2

Title: Broken Wings  
Author: Cheysuli  
Rating: R (to be safe)  
Pairing?/Bakura  
Summary: There is more to life than Shadows. Sometimes, though, Shadows are all we can see. Shounen-ai. /Bakura.  
Warning: Shounen-ai (male/male)  
Disclaimer: The characters of Yu-Gi-Oh belong to their creator (not me); any mythology mentioned belongs to Egypt which belongs to the Egyptian Gods. I do not own the various books mentioned in this fic; they belong to whoever wrote them.  
Chapter: Chapter 2  
:telepathy:  
.:yami to hikari/hikari to yami:.  
"speech"  
'thoughts'

* * *

Hurts. It hurts so bad very bad bad bad bright too bright too painful too loud loud bright whispering chanting singing screaming crying crying who's crying screaming make it stop make it stop make it stop make it **stop**...

Please make it stop...

* * *

"Ryou."

"Hmmm?"

"Ryou?"

"Hmmm. Early," Ryou yawned, pulling the covers over his head and going back to sleep. Or rather, he _tried_ to go back to sleep. Sleeping is rather difficult when someone yanks the covers off of you, exposing you to the chill morning air. Ryou groaned and rolled over to glare directly into amused amber eyes. "Must you do that so early?"

Bakura smiled sweetly. "Do what, Ryou?" he asked, feigning confusion. Ryou just glared and Bakura sighed, dropping the act. "You have to get up for school now."

Ryou blinked and glanced at the clock, groaning when he saw what time it was. "Bakura," he whined, pulling his pillow over his head. "It's 5:30; go back to sleep."

Bakura frowned. "But I don't want to," he said, leaning closer to Ryou and poking his arm. "Up, Ryou."

"Why are you awake _now_?" Ryou asked, his voice muffled since he was still hiding under the pillow. "Usually _I_ have to drag _you_ out of bed."

Bakura mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'couldn't sleep' before crawling onto the bed next to Ryou. "Ryou, get up," he whined. Yes whined. Bakura was not above whining to get his way... as long as Ryou was the only one there to hear him.

Too bad it rarely worked.

Ryou frowned, pushing the pillow off of him and staring hard at his yami, seeing how uneasy and tired he looked. _'A nightmare maybe? But he's never woken me up before; he usually just crawls in bed with me if the dream's too bad.'_ Ryou had lost count of how many mornings he had woken up to find Bakura - his 'I'm not afraid of anything' yami - snuggled up next to him under the covers. Of course, Bakura always denied it, claiming he had no idea how or why he had ended up in Ryou's bed.

Smiling, Ryou reached up and wrapped his arms around Bakura's neck, pulling him down to lie next to him. "Sleep, Bakura. We don't have to be up for hours," he yawned, hugging Bakura close to him.

Bakura sighed, reaching down to pull the covers over them before lowering his head to Ryou's chest and wrapping his arm around the hikari's waist. _'Stupid hikaris. They're too observant for their own good,'_ he thought with faint amusement that tried, and failed, to override the nervousness he still felt from the disturbing dream he had just had. _'Thank Ra,' _he thought drowsily, holding back a yawn, before he snuggled closer.

* * *

"Bakura."

"Hmmm?"

"Bakura."

"Go way. Mmm sleeping," Bakura yawned, pulling the covers over his head in a pathetic attempt to hide from his hikari.

Ryou sighed, laughing quietly as he knelt on the floor next to the bed. "If you hadn't gotten up at 5:30 this morning you wouldn't be this tired now," he said, pulling the covers off Bakura and reaching out to shake the sleeping boy. "It's already 7:30 Bakura. If you don't get up now we'll be late for school."

Bakura groaned, blinking open his eyes. "5:30 7 what?" He yawned, sitting up and leaning against Ryou as he once again dozed off.

Ryou rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around Bakura's waist before standing and pulling his yami off the bed. "Must we do this every morning?" he asked as Bakura blinked in confusion, wondering how he had gotten to his feet.

Bakura frowned as he suddenly realized where he was. "How did I..." he began before remembering last night's dream. "Oh, right," he finished, blushing slightly as he realized he couldn't pretend to have no knowledge of how he got here. His blush intensified when he noticed he was in Ryou's arms while wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and an oversized T-shirt. "Umm, you can let go now."

Ryou, who had been watching in amusement as Bakura remembered the events of last night, smiled innocently as he slowly released his yami. It was amazing how shy Bakura could be when he was half-asleep and too tired to put up an act. _'If only they could see the real you,' _he thought sadly, thinking of their - no; _his _- friends. _'Then they wouldn't hate you so much.'_

Oblivious to the turn Ryou's thoughts had taken, Bakura tiredly made his way from the room, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to stay awake long enough to make it to the shower. He nearly collided with the half open door but managed to catch himself before he could harm himself. "Why does school have to start so early?" he mumbled as he moved down the hall, trailing a hand along the wall to keep himself upright. "Why do I even go to school? Not like it can teach me anything I can't learn on my own..."

Ryou smirked as he listened to Bakura complain before heading downstairs, grabbing his backpack on the way.

* * *

Half an hour later, Ryou and Bakura were finally on their way to school, the latter still mumbling quietly beneath his breath. Only this time, instead of complaining about the early hour, he was complaining about the Pharaoh. Why was he complaining about the Pharaoh? Because the Pharaoh and his brat - err, hikari - had decided to join them on their walk to school. Or, more precisely, the Pharaoh and his hikari had decided to join _Ryou_ on _his_ walk to school. Bakura just happened to be there.

.:'Kura, could you please stop? The Pharaoh's starting to look annoyed and it's too early for a fight.:.

Bakura blinked and stole a quick glance at the bane of his existence. The Pharaoh was, indeed, starting to look annoyed. Actually, judging by the redness of his face, the grinding of his teeth, and his narrow eyes, he was quickly passing annoyed and going straight to angry. .:Well, what crawled up his-:.

.:'Kura:.

Bakura winced, shaking his head. He hated it when Ryou yelled at him through their link. It always gave him such a headache. _'Well, serves me right for not keeping that thought private. Must watch that,'_ he decided as he returned his attention to the two tri-colored bas... err, porcupines. _'Wait, I only see - oh, there he is.'_ Bakura frowned when he realized the midget was bouncing happily next to Ryou, excitedly telling the white haired boy about something that had happened at the game shop the night before. Bakura found it amazing that he didn't notice just how forced Ryou's smile was. .:Have a headache, Ryou:. he asked his hikari as he glared at the Pharaoh, who glared right back. .:Want me to shut him up:.

Ryou sent a wave of gratitude over the link but declined the offer. .:We're here anyways. He'll have to shut up now.:.

Bakura smirked as they entered the school building and the bouncy midget porcupine finally stopped talking. .:Why are you friends with him if he annoys you so much:.

.:He's only like this in the mornings, 'Kura. Or after he's had sugar. He'll calm down in an hour or two. You know that.:.

Bakura sighed as he followed them into the classroom, moving to his seat by the window. While he got out his supplies for their first class, he watched from the corner of his eye as the Pharaoh spoke quietly and urgently with Ryou before taking his seat in the back. .:Demanding to know if I'm abusing you, Ryou:. he asked sadly, recognizing what had become a morning ritual.

Ryou paused a moment as he sat Bakura. .:Yes:. he answered, frowning as he glared at his desk. .:I'm sorry they think so little of you.:.

Bakura shrugged. .:It's not your fault, Ryou:. he reassured his hikari before turning his attention to the teacher who had just entered the room.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry for the crappy dream at the beginning. I had originally planned to give Bakura a rather... surreal dream/nightmare but I couldn't figure out how to write surrealism. Also, I apologize for the mild Yami and Yugi bashing in this chapter. That's just how Bakura sees them. I'm not going to make Yami a bastard or Yugi an oblivious hyperactive child (except early in the morning and when he's had sugar).

One other thing, does anyone know where I can find fan art of the Egyptian Gods? I remember seeing this one site devoted entirely to the God Set but can't remember the address. Any fan art about any of the gods would be great. Thank you.


	4. Chapter 3

Title: Broken Wings  
Author: Cheysuli  
Rating: R (to be safe)  
Pairing?/Bakura  
Summary: There is more to life than Shadows. Sometimes, though, Shadows are all we can see. Shounen-ai. /Bakura.  
Warning: Shounen-ai (male/male)  
Disclaimer: The characters of Yu-Gi-Oh belong to their creator (not me); any mythology mentioned belongs to Egypt which belongs to the Egyptian Gods. I do not own the various books mentioned in this fic; they belong to whoever wrote them.  
Chapter: Chapter 3  
A/N: To _aura-chan the neko-jin, _the prologue wasn't really supposed to make sense. Technically, it hasn't even happened yet since the story actually 'starts' three weeks before the events in the prologue. Think of the prologue more as a teaser of what's to come.  
:telepathy:  
.:yami to hikari/hikari to yami:.  
"speech"  
'thoughts'

* * *

"He's up to something."

Yugi sighed, glancing over at Yami, who was glaring across the room at Bakura. "Leave him alone, Yami. He's good now."

Yami just glared harder at the thief, who appeared to be working on the assignment the teacher had given the class. _Appeared to be_. Yami knew Bakura couldn't be that interested in math. Or even interested at all. "He's faking, Yugi. Can't you see?" he asked, glancing worriedly at his hikari. "He just luring everyone into a false sense of security and when we least expect it, he'll-"

"Is there a problem, Mouto?"

Yami winced and turned away from Yugi, glancing nervously at the teacher that seemed to loom over him. "Uh... no, Sasaki-sensei."

Sasaki smirked. "Well then, Mouto; perhaps you could tell the class the answer to problem number twelve," he said, pointing towards the board in the front of the room.

Yami turned to look at the board then glanced down at his blank paper. He had been too worked up over whatever Bakura was planning that he had forgotten all about the assignment. Nervously, he looked back towards the board.

If a triangle has sides 5, 6, and the square root of thirteen, what is the area of the triangle?

Yami blinked. "Uh... uh..." he stuttered, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation.

Sasaki cocked an eyebrow as he watched his student squirm. "I thought as much. Please see me after class, Mouto," he said, before turning to one of his favorite students. "Bakura, do _you _know the answer to number twelve?"

Yami smirked, confident the thief would fail as well. _'There is no way he is smarter than me,' _he thought, watching as Bakura looked up from his desk.

Bakura studied the board for a moment, cocking his head. "9," he answered before returning to his paper, not even glancing over at Yami.

"That's correct, Bakura," the teacher said proudly. "And can you tell us how you arrived at that conclusion?" he asked, glancing at Yami from the corner of his eye to make sure he was listening.

Bakura didn't even look at the teacher as he answered. "Heron's formula. We studied it last week."

"That we did," he said as he turned his attention once more to Yami. "And apparently _some_ students need to start paying attention in class if they don't want to fail."

Yami was so shocked that Bakura had actually _known _the answer that he had almost missed the teacher's threat. Almost. "Yes, Sasaki-sensei," he said, nodding as he gaze shamefully at his desk. .:He cheated; I'm sure of it:. he told Yugi mentally so he wouldn't get into anymore trouble.

Yugi sighed just sighed, shaking his head in amusement, before turning back to his own assignment.

* * *

.:Is the Pharaoh still sulking:.

Ryou glanced quickly across the room before answering Bakura. .:Yes. And he's glaring again, too.:.

Bakura sighed, wondering what he had done this time. .:If he'd only pay attention instead of plotting ways to get rid of me, he wouldn't get in trouble.:.

Ryou smiled as he returned to figuring out the assignment. .:You know, Kura; if anyone heard you talking like that, they'd think you were a pod person.:.

Bakura frowned and turned to stare at Ryou.

Sensing Bakura's confusion, Ryou glanced up from his paper. .:You know; Invasion of the Body Snatchers.:.

Bakura just continued to stare blankly.

Ryou sighed. .:Gods, Kura! You need to watch more TV! Now, uh, can you tell me the answer to number seven:.

Still confused but distracted by the change of subject, Bakura shook his head. .:No. If you don't do it yourself, you'll never learn.:.

.:But you told the whole class the answer to number twelve _and_ how to solve it:. he whined, turning to stare wide eyed at Bakura.

Unfortunately, when it came to schoolwork, Puppy Eyes never worked on Bakura. .:Only because Sasaki-sensei asked me to.:.

Ryou pouted but didn't argue and turned back to his almost complete assignment, trying to remember everything he knew about triangles.

* * *

"Did you see the pleading looks Ryou gave that thief!" Yami growled later that day. "He obviously threatened Ryou into given him the answer."

Yugi sighed and shared a suffering glance with Jou, who had joined them for lunch. The three were in their usual lunchtime spot: sitting in the shade of a large tree near the fence out behind the school. "Um, Yami; don't you think you're overreacting just a little?" Yugi asked, trying to calm him down.

Jou nodded. "Yeah, Yami. It's your own fault you got detention. You can't go blaming Bakura for _this."_

Yami glared at them. "Don't you _see! _That thief is _using _Ryou and the boy is too afraid to stand up to him!"

Yugi nodded. "I know, Yami. But there's nothing we can do about it until Ryou asks for help. It's really none of our business."

Jou frowned at them. "You know, guys; have you ever thought that _maybe _Bakura is actually smart and Ryou was giving Bakura 'pleading looks' because he wanted Bakura to give him the answers?"

Yugi and Yami both turned to stare at him in disbelief.

Jou gave a nervous laugh, raising his arms a bit in defense. "Or I could just be imagining things."

Yugi and Yami continued to stare for a few more moments before returning to their own discussion. And Jou's comment was soon forgotten.

At least, forgotten by the Pharaoh and his Light. Jou knew there was more to Bakura than anyone suspected and he couldn't... _wouldn't _forget what he just said.

And neither would the still figure that watched silently from the branches above.

* * *

A/N: And that was another slow chapter. Sorry. Things should pick up a bit next chapter.

Oh, I got the math problem and the answer from _The Math Forum: Ask Dr. Math. _And they did useHeron's formula to solve it. Not that I really understood the process. But then again, I really didn't _try _to understand it.

And yes, I know I said I wouldn't make Yami such a bastard. And he's not. He's just stubborn and blind to the truth right now. But at least Yugi's calmed down a bit. And Jou's here now! Haven't decided who else I'll bring into the fic yet. Not too many since I have trouble writing stories with a large cast. Probably not more than two or three other people.


	5. Chapter 4

Title: Broken Wings  
Author: Cheysuli  
Rating: R (to be safe)  
Pairing/Bakura  
Summary: There is more to life than Shadows. Sometimes, though, Shadows are all we can see.  
Warning: Shounen-ai (male/male)  
Chapter: Chapter 4  
:telepathy:  
/yami to hikari/hikari to yami/ (since is FanFiction . Net being mean)  
"speech"  
'thoughts'

* * *

Bakura liked school. He'd never admit it and he hated the fact that it started so early; but all in all, he liked school. Especially Math and Literature; those were his best classes. He had always excelled in math (much to Ryou's amazement since the hikari had never been that good at numbers) and the only time he had ever had trouble understanding something was that time the teacher mentioned a connection between mathematics and computers. 

Literature was his most favorite class; because, in Literature, he could read as much as he wanted and no one thought anything of it... except the Pharaoh who grew suspicious every time Bakura did so much as blink. Yes, Bakura did love this class... especially when the teacher assigned books that Bakura hadn't read yet.

Janka-sensei was from Hungary and therefore preferred using Hungarian literature in her class. Bakura didn't know where she had managed to find Hungarian literature translated into Japanese, but he supposed it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that he had something new read.

Ryou, on the other hand, didn't seem to like the works of _Mór Jókai _as much as Bakura did. /Why can't we read Japanese books/ he whined mentally to Bakura as he stared blankly at the novel on his desk. /Japanese books make sense/

Bakura sighed, looking over at Ryou. /Ryou... if you at least _try _to read past the first page, it will start making more sense/ he answered in amusement before returning to his own book, taking a brief moment to glance towards the Pharaoh, who for once was _not _glaring at Bakura and was instead staring in confusion at the book the teacher had handed him. /Looks like the Pharaoh doesn't like it anymore than you do./

Ryou frowned, following his gaze before turning back to glare at his own book.

* * *

Yami hated school - no, he _loathed _school. The classes, the teachers, the other students - except his friends and especially Bakura - he loathed everything about it. He didn't know _why _he had promised Yugi he'd go. Ok, so maybe the impossibly large and pleading puppy dog eyes had something to do with it. And maybe the fact that Ryou had somehow managed - and Yami shuddered to think what the delicate hikari had to do in return - to convince Bakura to go as well and Yami wasn't about to let that monster anywhere _near _Yugi. Who knew _what _Bakura would do to him in order to steal the Puzzle? 

Yami had had nightmares of what Bakura might do if he wasn't around. It was after a particularly horrific nightmare where Bakura repeatedly stabbed the little hikari before throwing him into a vat of hungry piranhas that Yami had finally agreed to go to school. Even though he would have much rather stayed home and watch television.

Television was one of his favorite modern inventions. It was right up there with Duel Disks, video games, and microwaves. He could spend hours lounging on the couch in front of the television, only moving when he got hungry or had to go to the bathroom... or when Grandpa came in ranting about beautiful days before turning off the television and shoving Yami out the door. Yami really hated it when that happened.

But back to the topic of school; more specially, Literature class where he had to read some book about black diamonds. Yami didn't know _why _he had to read a book about black diamonds, especially since jewelry had nothing to do with literature. And... _black _diamonds? Who had ever heard of such a thing? Ridiculous.

/Yami, at least open the book and _pretend _to read it./

Yami grumbled a bit but, after a quick glance to see what Bakura was doing, did as his hikari had said and opened the book.

* * *

As much as Bakura loved school, he _hated _free periods... which, for some reason, they always had for the last class of the day. Bakura didn't understand why everyone had to stay in school that extra half hour when they didn't actually use that time to learn anything. He was half tempted to try to convince the principal to move free periods to the very beginning of the day; that way, everyone could get more sleep instead of having to be awake early enough to make it to school by 8:30. But Bakura figured that no one would listen so there was no point in trying to convince anyone. 

Now, free periods wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't had them with that Ra damned Pharaoh. Bakura couldn't even _read _during free period because it would be obvious he wasn't doing it to fool a teacher into thinking he was studying. The Pharaoh would never let him live it down if he knew Bakura actually _liked _reading.

Which was a real shame since he wanted to read more of _Black Diamonds. _Janka-sensei always picked out the best books. Classics and not that modern crap with all those space aliens... though War of the Worlds was rather good; one of the few books about aliens he actually liked.

But he was getting off the subject of hating free periods. Especially free periods with the Pharaoh and especially when he felt as if he was being watched. And this wasn't the usual feeling he got when the Pharaoh stared at him or when Ryou was eavesdropping on his thoughts; no, this felt as if someone he didn't know was watching his every move, listening to his every word.

/You're acting paranoid, you know./

Well, apparently _part _of the feeling was from Ryou eavesdropping on his thoughts. /I am _not_. Someone's watching me/ he said, looking away from the window he had been staring out of for the past ten minutes and glancing at his hikari.

Ryou rolled his eyes and laughed quietly. /Just me and the Pharaoh, like always, Bakura. There's no one new watching you/ he said, still laughing. /Well, except that bird./

Bakura blinked, turning back to the window. And yes, sitting on a branch of the tree just outside was a large golden hawk. Bakura stared, wondering just how he had missed seeing the bird when it was so obvious now that it had been pointed out to him. And wondering what it was doing here since it was obviously not the kind of hawk native to Japan. It looked Egyptian actually.

And the damned thing just winked at him.

Bakura stared in disbelief as the hawk looked him over before winking once again as it spread its wings and flew away. /Uh... Ryou/

/What/ the hikari asked, not having seen the display.

Bakura continued staring at the now empty tree. /I think... I think that bird just checked me out./

Ryou stared.

* * *

Yami was confused. He had been enjoying his favorite class of the day - free period, where he didn't have to do anything unless Yugi made him - when Ryou had, for some unexplainable reason, burst out laughing. And it was obvious he was laughing at Bakura, if the way he had stared at Bakura just moments before was any indication. 

Yami had tensed, prepared to leap across the room and defend the innocent boy from the raging Bakura. And he sensed Yugi and their friends readying themselves as well. But something happened that they had not expected.

Bakura had not attacked Ryou for laughing at him. He had stared at the boy, obviously frozen in shock, before shaking his head and laughing as well.

Bakura wasn't acting evil and cruel, much to Yami's confusion. He wasn't growling and threatening to send Ryou to the Shadow Realm for even _thinking _of laughing at him. No, instead he was laughing as well, at _himself _no less. He was... he was...

He was acting human.

This made no sense. Bakura was evil. Always had been and always would be and there was nothing anyone could do about it. There was no way he could ever be kind enough to be called human.

No matter _how _innocent he looked when he laughed.

* * *

A/N: Well, Yami wasn't a complete bastard this chapter. Though he seems to have forgotten that humans are among the cruelest creatures in the world. Anyways, things should pick up a bit next chapter. 

Oh, to those who read Little Miracle, I'm planning a sequel. It's still in the research stage right now but I hope to start writing within the next week or two.

A/N: I HATE QUICK EDIT! IT KEEPS REMOVING MY PUNCTUATION! GROWLS


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